Hall opened a dry goods and carpet store on Main Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with Read going solo in 1877.

[citation needed] In 1926, Read's moved to the corner of Broad and John Streets in downtown Bridgeport, where its flagship store ultimately had over 100,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of selling area on five floors.

Dresses • Jr. Coats • Jr. Sportswear Fourth Floor Bedding • Furniture • Rugs • Broadloom • Photo Studio • Trim-a-Home Shop • Beauty Salon Fifth Floor Toyland • Bicycles • Outdoor Equipment • Books • Venetian Tea Room • Offices The second store was built as one of the two anchors in the new Trumbull Shopping Park (the state's first mall), 6.7 miles from downtown Bridgeport.

In 1981, Allied closed Read's landmark downtown store, leaving behind a boarded-up building as a reminder of Bridgeport's brighter past.

[8] It moved the store into space recently vacated by Gimbel's at the nearby Lafayette Plaza Mall in downtown Bridgeport.

[9] In 1988, Campeau acquired Federated Department Stores of Cincinnati, Ohio and operated it in conjunction with Allied, subsequently declaring bankruptcy in 1990.